Advil
by Kris Phantom
Summary: After the events in Egypt, Ryou was left alone. But, Ryou doesn't take 'alone' too well. R&R please
1. Cure For The Pain

Okies, I gots a random idea that's been hopping around in my head *catches plot bunny and huggles*

Bakura: Oh joy. And can you please not do that? It's creepy.

Ryou: I think it's cute! *huggles another plot bunny*

Bunnies: Squeak! *tries to get away*

Uhm, that's bunny for 'read please!' and...yeah. *walks away with bunny*

* * *

Chapter 1: Antidote for the Pain

The top closed on the now empty Advil bottle with a sad snap.

White bangs floated into the air for a moment on a breath before they were pushed away from glazed brown eyes.

'_You need to go to the hospital' _a voice in the back of his head ordered. Ryou ignored it. This voice was a memory—no, a _mockery_—of the voice that used to live there. Yami Bakura never talked to him that way. This voice spoke softly but Bakura would have yelled at him for endangering the body. _'You shouldn't have taken that many!' _OK, that sounded a bit more like him. Not enough, though.

Ryou shook his head to stop the thoughts. Maybe he should get another bottle on the way to the park.

Deciding that that was a good idea, he pocketed the empty bottle—already thinking of what he could use it for now that it wasn't holding any pills—and grabbed a water bottle from the fridge.

He passed the store, but it was closed.

"Darnit," he muttered, still walking. Oh well, the Advil wasn't working as well today. Maybe he should look for something stronger... The pharmacy down the road had several types of pain pills, so why not go there?

'_Go to the park first'_ the voice said—no, pleaded. Yeah, it _pleaded_ Ryou to go to the park instead of the pharmacy.

"But if I go to the store, it won't hurt," the whitenette replied softly. He didn't know what hurt, he just knew that it started with a dull ache in his chest That he could deal with. But then it would become a not-so-dull throbbing and burning every time he took a breath. The burning would spread to his arms and legs before giving him really bad headaches that made him pass out half the time. Taking painkillers was the only way Ryou could find that took the pain away to just the dull ache. Sometimes it would take it all away, but Ryou didn't want to take it all at once. That would be stupid. What if he needed them later?

'_Go to the park first'_ the voice repeated.

"Fine," the boy muttered softly, changing his course. It was an ingrained habit to go to the park while Bakura was gone. That was where he waited for him to come back.

But was he going to come back this time?

"Of course he is," Ryou scolded quietly. "He promised."

The voice didn't say anything as Ryou sat on the swing. In a few kicks, he was swinging nicely. He ignored a certain taller-than-his-'brother' leather-clad teen with wild hair who was walking by. It wasn't fair that Yugi could keep his yami while Ryou was left with nothing. Not even the Millennium Ring survived as a souvenir, you know, something to remember everything by. But the Puzzle still hung around Atemu's neck, resting on his chest.

He wondered if Yugi knew where the Pharaoh was, and if the two still had that old bond now that they had their own bodies. Could they still communicate telepathically?

His silent question was answered when the Pharaoh suddenly laughed at nothing. Ryou's eyes moved toward the sound. His soft white hair moved into his line of sight, like it was saying 'no, don't look', but when it fell back down the boy saw that Atemu was waving.

On the way back downward, Ryou let one hand off the chain to wave at the yami.

The welcoming look changed to one of concern when crimson and brown eyes met. The brown eyes tore themselves away.

"Bakura-kun, are you h—" Yami started before changing what he was going to say. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," Ryou said when the swing dipped back down. Yami stood by the swingset, smartly standing far enough away that he wouldn't get kicked.

"You don't look fine." Ryou didn't answer. He knew he didn't look fine. His hair was a mess, his eyes were still a little red from crying, heck, with all these problems, he wouldn't be surprised if Atemu had thought he was Bakura.

'_You _are_ Bakura, silly'_ the voice cooed. It meant that his _name_ was Bakura. Ryou knew _that_. Bakura had said that very thing several times.

'That's not what I meant.'

'_But it's the truth.' _

Ryou ignored the voice in his head, knowing he was just going crazy from being alone for so long. How long has it been? A little over two months? Feels so much longer...

"Bakura-kun?" The brown-glazed eyes turned to the Pharaoh. "What have you been doing to yourself?"

"I haven't been doing anything."

'_LIES!'_

'Would it kill you to shut up?' Ryou thought pleasantly. The voice didn't say anything. 'Gods, I really _am_ going crazy.'

A smaller version of Atemu ran over.

"Bakura-kun!" he squeaked. "We've been looking everywhere for you!" Ryou blinked.

"You have?"

"Yeah! We went by your house a bunch of times, but you were never home," the shorter boy explained while Ryou kept swinging.

"Sorry," the whitenette said when he was close enough to them.

"I'll go get the others!" Yugi said before running back the way he came.

Atemu watched his light run off. Ryou felt a twinge of jealousy. He and Bakura had never gotten to get that close. Sure, they knew the basics about each other—enough to know what they had in common, at least.

Ryou suddenly felt better, well, a little sick to be honest, but the pain was going away rather quickly.

Maybe the Advil was enough. It sure felt like it had been enough now.

Red eyes appeared by a bush off to the side. Only a few more minutes and they could meet up with the brown ones they're looking for. They started forward, until they noticed that another pair of red eyes was watching the brown ones. The ones in the bush narrowed a little, but were soon widened again. The brown eyes were flying too high up. They only did that when—

Realization dawned on the red eyes.

Ryou felt his hands slip. He couldn't hold on to the chains anymore. He felt so…_free_.

He'd felt this way once before… And after that he'd met and got beaten up by Bakura for scaring him so badly. That had been a little while before he had come to Domino, now that he thought about it.

He felt the gravity weighing down on him. He heard his hair flapping against his skin. He had been swinging pretty…

Atemu watched in horror as the whitenette that his Aibou thought of as a friend started to fall forward in the swing.

"Bakura!" he yelled—deciding that honorifics would take too long at the moment—as he ran forward to try to catch the boy.

"RYOU!" shouted an all-too-familiar voice. Yami whirled around in time to see a boy about Ryou's age with tanned skin and white hair running towards the falling boy.

The tanned boy managed to catch Ryou, his limp body draped in his arms. He gently turned Ryou over in and laid him on the ground, feeling for a pulse. He looked up, his red eyes filled with anger and—dare he say it?—panic.

"What the Hell are you doing! Call a Ra-damned ambulance already!" the boy growled out, keeping his voice steady. Yami could only nod dumbly and pull out the cell phone Grandpa had given him. While Yami explained what he knew of the situation, the tanned boy started CPR on the eighteen-year-old, who had stopped breathing.

"What the hell did you take this time?" the boy muttered as he pressed on Ryou's chest. Surely Yami didn't just hear that Bakura-kun had done this to himself? "Come on, Ry… just breathe…" The Advil bottle rolled out of his pocket, surrounded by the receipt. He just looked at it before swearing loudly. The Pharaoh picked it up and was surprised at the fact that the bottle was empty. And the receipt was from that morning.

Yami had several questions for the boy, but the most important wouldn't be answered until the ambulance got there.

It was an agonizing ten minutes before the truck arrived, sirens blaring.

Atemu climbed in with the tanned boy, not wanting to leave him around people who didn't know what he was and what he could do. They had Ryou hooked up to a breathing machine and tied down so that the bumps didn't affect him while the other teen talked to the paramedics about Ryou. The Pharaoh could hardly believe what he was hearing. He could also barely believe that these seats didn't have seatbelts. There were far too many bumps on this ride for his tastes.

"So," the paramedic started, checking Ryou's vitals. She turned to the tanned boy. "Just who are you to him?"

"His brother, Akefia," the tanned boy answered. "I was in Egypt with our father for a few months and I only just got home. I told him to wait for me at the park by our house, but..." the boy trailed off, looking at the whitenette. Atemu stayed quiet.

"Is he an addict, or—?" Akefia shook his head.

"He claims to have these pains sometimes—usually when he's been left alone for a while. Ry always said that the pain pills worked, so I thought that he only took the recommended amount. He never just takes them to take them."

"So not an addict," she wrote it down on a clipboard, "that's good. Once we get to the hospital, we can get those pills out of his system." Akefia nodded and leaned back against his chair, the bumps on the road not affecting him. He'd ridden way too many horses for it to bother him. "Such pretty hair too," the nurse muttered as she checked Ryou's vitals again before going up to talk to the driver.

"What is going on here, Bakura?" the Pharaoh whispered.

"I'll tell you once Ry's better. Promise," the tanned whitenette answered. It wasn't until Bakura had turned away from him that he noticed that there was a scar on his face.

"Where'd you—"

"When Ryou's better." Bakura's eyes were trained on the machine that monitored Ryou's heart rate. Yami grabbed the chair as the truck hit a rather large bump. The heart rate spiked for a moment but went back down once the road smoothed out. The nurse came back to talk to Atemu about the boy.

Yami gave the name 'Atemu Motou'. He explained what he saw happen. Akefia just kept praying under his breath that Ryou would be alright.

A few hours after they had arrived at the Emergency Room, the nurse came back for them with the doctor.

"Mr. Bakura?" the doctor called. Bakura cringed at the title.

"Right here," he waved. The nurse looked up and couldn't help but stare. Bakura's shirt was skin-tight and showed off all of his muscles. He wore shorts, too, so his long legs were bare from the knee to the sneakers he was wearing.

"Well, your brother is doing very well, considering. He had taken the bulk right before he went to the park, it seems. We just pumped his stomach of the pills and now he's resting. You can stay until he wakes up if you like," the doctor announced. Atemu couldn't help but feel relieved at the news. "Just follow the nurse, son."

Bakura nodded and stood up. Atemu watched as the two people walked to whichever room Ryou was in.

"Motou, right?" Yami looked up, startled.

"Y-yes sir." The doctor gave a gentle smile.

"We called your grandfather. He's coming to pick you up in about ten minutes. Ryou's door is just down the hall," he said, directing the boy.

When Yami walked in, Bakura was sitting next to the bed where a certain whitenette lay unconscious. A limp, pale thin hand was currently held in a pair of strong tanned ones. The nurse was walking out when Atemu walked in. She gave the boy a squeeze on the shoulder as she passed. Yami took a seat that was by the window.

"What did they say about him?" the Pharaoh asked, forgetting his questions, and the silence uncomfortable. Bakura took a breath.

"That it was a good thing we were there. He's in one of those coma things right now, but he should be waking up soon," he replied, looking really guilty.

"So we wait, then." And the silence continued.

For about five minutes before the usually hyper Atemu-look-alike walked in with his grandfather. Yami stood up, catching Akefia's attention for a moment. Yugi froze when he saw the tanned boy sitting next to the bed.

"Ba-Bakura-san," the boy stammered out, recognizing the eighteen year old boy holding his friend's hand. Bakura didn't say anything to him. Yami quickly picked up a sheet of paper and a pen from the table beside Ryou's bed and wrote something on it.

"Here, call when if you need anything," Atemu said, pushing the paper at the teen. A nod was what he got in response. Bakura's thumb moved across the back of the pale hand as his other hand tucked the paper away in a pocket.

"Pharaoh?" Yugi asked, not understanding what had happened.

"Just trust me, Aibou."

"I do."

"Well, I think we ought to go home now, don't you?" Grandpa suggested. Bakura ignored him while the Pharaoh and his mini-me nodded.

Yami took another look at the sleeping boy on the bed.

"I'll come back tomorrow, if you want," he said to the Egyptian. The red eyes turned to him for a moment before an 'okay' came from them. Yami nodded and left.

* * *

Welp, there you go! Random two-shot-ness is rampant!

Ryou: *whining* What did I do to deserve being a coma? *holds bunny close and cries*

Bakura: I would never do that! Especially around the Pharaoh!

Ryou and Bakura: *Continue whining and ranting*

Oh stop it! It's not like I'm ending it here!

Ryou: *stops whining* Uhm, review please? I'll make sure she updates really soon?

Bakura:*is still ranting about hating the Pharaoh and stuff*

A/N 2 Sorry I haven't been updating/posting anything. I've been away from any Internet that lacked parental controls, so… yeah. I'll post the second chappy later.


	2. Amnesia

*walks in with two bunnies* Hi Peoples~

Bakura: Oh great. You're back now? About time.

Ryou: Kura cut it out! *picks up bunny*

Bakura: Gah! Why am I surrounded by these people!

Who knows! Must be luck!

Joey: Ain't that the truth!

Bakura: What the—Wheeler? What the hell are you doing here?

Joey: *Shrug* No clue. Musta walked into the wrong door. Aw well, I'm here now!

Welcome! The more the merrier, I've heard! *hands Joey a bunny*

Joey: *To Bakura* What am I supposed to do with this?

Bakura: *shrug* Just hold onto it. Makes her happy.

Joey: Oh.

Bunnies: Squeak!

Read please!

Chapter 2: Amnesia

Atemu came back almost everyday for three weeks, mostly alone. Once the group heard that the evil guy that they had just beat not three months earlier sat in the same room, they didn't want to come all that much. Maybe four times since Ryou had been taken to the hospital.

Bakura was getting back to his old self—well, mostly. He'll still mock Atemu, but not as seriously as before.

Staying three weeks in a hospital room with his dead-to-the-world hikari did have an effect on him. His tanned skin was a little paler, and his disposition was a little less angry. But he still wouldn't say how he had come back from the afterlife. Yami thought that maybe he would only tell that to Ryou himself.

Atemu prayed every night to the gods for Ryou's life. He knew that Bakura would be doing the same thing when the nurses and doctors were away.

Today, Yami couldn't go unless there was a real reason. He had an appointment with Kaiba and Mokuba. Something about a school or something. To be honest, Atemu had had enough of school from his time there with Yugi.

That was when his cell phone rang. He merely glanced at the number, expecting it to be Kaiba. But it wasn't.

"Bakura! How's—Oh. Oh no. I'll be right there. Let me tell Grandpa. Yeah, go ahead." Atemu hung up. "Kaiba's going to kill me... Grandpa! I gotta go!"

"Have fun!" was the shouted response. From both Yugi and his grandfather.

"I wish," he muttered before lifting his phone back up to call his rival.

Akefia was fidgeting in his seat. Yes, fidgeting. He'd just got off the phone with the Pharaoh, someone that he had said he would never turn to for help. And yet, here he was, waiting for that person to help him. In the cafeteria of all places.

This wasn't going as well as he thought it should. Ryou was supposed to wake up and be happy for once. He would be happy that Bakura had his own body and he wouldn't be blamed for anything that Akefia did. He would be happy that he would never have an empty home to return to everyday. Ryou was eighteen now, so he didn't have school anymore. And yet he still didn't know what he needed to know. School didn't offer what he needed to learn.

Ryou already knew. He was going to teach him everything he needed. No sense in doing anything else, anyways.

"Bakura!" a familiar voice called as the leather clad teen ran towards him. "What's going on? Where is he?"

"He's in his room, I told him to stay there," Akefia answered easily. That was the easy part.

"So he's awake?"

"Yeah."

"You said there was something wrong."

"He doesn't remember anything. He's got amnesia," Bakura winced. Yami blinked.

"Am-knee-what?"

"He doesn't remember anything," he repeated. He took a deep breath. "Nothing at all. Not even his name."

"That is a problem. Do they know if he'll get his memory back?"

"They're keeping him for a few days. They said that he might, but it's unlikely."

"The medicine did this, right?"

"Yeah. Since he wasn't an addict, and he took so many over that time, it messed with some part of his brain—I can't remember which—and he lost his memory. I still have to find a way to contact his father about it. Not that he'll care." Akefia didn't look like he was too pressed to talk to Ryou's dad.

"Wait, where's his father?"

"Egypt. Ironic, ne? He stays there all year long, only thinking of Ryou when a note from the landlord gets to him to pay rent or his birthday."

"Birthday?"

"What did you think the Ring was? A 'hey, I just remembered that you're my kid' present?" Akefia stopped for a moment. "Actually, that's exactly what it was. But that's beside the point."

"Just so you know Kaiba's got a hit out on me now."

"Ouch. I'll bet you didn't do anything to deserve it."

"I had to cancel an appointment and he didn't like the reason very much," Atemu explained.

"Really... what was it for?"

"Something about a school."

"Hn. Sounds fun," Bakura responded. He was honestly tired of school. Hence why he was going to teach the boy what he needed to learn.

"So, since Ryou isn't going to remember that you two used to share a body, how did you get here? I thought you had been killed?"

"They didn't want to sit there and weigh my sins. They had scheduled appointments to get to, and dealing with me would have taken forever," Bakura admitted. Yami laughed.

"It would, wouldn't it? So what's the real story? We have time, don't we?"

"Fine. They said that I couldn't pass on without being whole—in other words, until Ryou died I would have been stuck waiting. They gave me a choice. I could wait there, or I could have a second chance at life. This way, Ryou isn't alone, and I have something to do other than annoy the gods."

"I thought you like annoying people?" Atemu asked pleasantly. Bakura stuck out his tongue. Atemu crossed his arms, losing his smile. "When are we going to talk to him?" Akefia sighed.

"Whenever you're ready, I guess," Bakura answered. Atemu sighed and nodded.

"Lead the way." Akefia stood up and Atemu followed him down the halls towards the room.

"Oh! Akefia-kun!" a familiar voice said as they entered the room. "Hello!" Yami looked up to see a clearly very happy Ryou sitting up in bed, giving a little wave at the new visitor.

"How're you feeling?" Atemu asked as he took his chair by the window.

"Fine, thank you, Mr. ...?" the whitenette cocked his head as he subtly asked for Yami's name.

"Atemu, please." Ryou nodded. Bakura sat on the bed by his 'bother'.

Suddenly, Atemu winced.

"Yugi's going to kill me now too," he muttered, rubbing his head.

"You didn't tell the kid?" Bakura snickered.

"Short notice. He was inside and I was on my way to KaibaCorp when you called." Atemu watched as Ryou leaned against Bakura. "You two get really close?"

"We're brothers aren't we?" Ryou asked, confused. "Aren't we supposed to be close?"

"Nevermind," Yami said, waving it off. Ryou didn't understand. So he didn't try to.

"Ake-kun said that he was going to teach me how to be a tomb robber!" Ryou said happily. Yami realized that he didn't know what a tomb robber was. Bakura facepalmed.

"Really? It sounds like fun," Atemu supported. Akefia seemed relieved that the Pharaoh didn't say what it really was.

"Yeah! I can't wait!"

"Well, you get out in couple days," Akefia answered. A couple days, and then Ryou could do whatever he wanted. Though of course Ryou wasn't going to go near any medicine that Bakura himself did not give him.

Ryou appeared to be really excited about that. He was smiling very bright, and his eyes were shining. Atemu smiled at that. Amnesia was obviously the best thing that had happened to him.

There was a knock which all three occupants looked at. They had at first expected it to be a nurse or a doctor to check up on Ryou but it was—

"Jounouchi-kun!" Atemu said in recognition. Sure enough, the blonde boy was there, along with the rest of the gang—Honda, Anzu, Yugi—stood there in the doorway.

"Hey 'Tem! Yugue told us, so we decided to drop by!" the blonde explained. His eyes shot to Akefia for a moment. Distrust was evident.

Ryou was very confused. ''Tem'? 'Jounouchi-kun'? Who were they?

"Maybe you should talk to them outside...?" Akefia suggested, feeling Ryou's confusion through the still-intact mindlink. Atemu nodded, understanding.

"Come. I'll fill you in," he said, standing up and heading towards them. Jou seemed surprised, but nodded, stepping away from the door as the Pharaoh walked out to join them. He shut the door behind him, leaving Ryou safe in Bakura's arms, falling asleep while Akefia rocked him.

"Wha's goin' on, 'Tem?" Jou asked, confused.

"Bakura-kun's got am-knee-whatever. He doesn't remember anything," Yami answered.

"Oh no..." Anzu whispered, holding her hand to her mouth.

"So Ake—uh, Bakura is his brother unless he remembers otherwise."

"I-Is it going to be okay? You know, leaving him with Bakura-san?" Yugi asked.

Atemu nodded, confident.

"Well, when does he get to go home?" Honda asked.

"A few days. Akefia's taking him home."

"Ah-who-ia?" Jou mumbled. Atemu winced, realizing that he said Bakura's chosen name.

"Why?" Yugi asked softly.

"Wait," Anzu started, "Who's Akefia?"

"Bakura. That's the name he gave to Bakura-kun and the doctors," Atemu answered.

"So you're on first name basis with the bad guy?" Jou asked. Atemu shrugged.

"For now. We haven't talked about remaining 'friends' once Bakura-kun's out of the hospital." Atemu sat down in the chair next to the door.

"Can we talk to Bakura-kun?" Yugi asked. Atemu thought for a moment.

"Come on," he said, taking Yugi's hand and walking into the room. Bakura looked up at them and caught the hint.

"I'll go talk to the doc about letting you out early," Akefia whispered to Ryou before getting up. The whitenette nodded, understanding. Yami introduced Ryou to Yugi, who started talking to the whitenette about whatever came to mind—from games to vacations—while Bakura walked out of the room.

"Hey," Jou said, holding out his arm to stop the tanned boy. They were so close in height that it was a little freaky. Bakura's eyebrow rose.

"What?"

"Wha's goin' on here," Jou asked. "How're ya here?"

"That's not any of your business," Bakura answered coolly, starting to walk past.

"What goes on wit' my friends is my business!" Jou shot back.

"Just get out of my way," Akefia said, pushing the blond boy aside so he could leave. "And don't go anywhere near him!" The gang watched as the tanned Egyptian yami walked down the hall to catch a doctor.

"So what now?" Honda asked. "He said not to go near Bakura-kun, and I don't know about you but I don't wanna get on his bad side."

"Wait, he has a good side?" Anzu said smartly.

Honda shrugged.

"Yeah," Jou admitted. He rubbed the back of his throat sheepishly. "Maybe I did do a stupid..."

"Maybe?" a familiar voice behind them quoted. The three jumped before looking and seeing their taller spiky-headed friend leaning against the wall. Atemu wasn't frowning. He was smirking a little. The smile faded. "You really should trust me more. Bakura is not a threat now. He's far too worried about Bakura-kun and his welfare to be evil like he was."

"Look, 'Tem, I know you think that, but what's stopping him? You said Bakura-kun doesn't remember. What if he gets him to follow him to do bad stuff?" Jou reasoned. Yami winced at the 'bad stuff'.

"Do we need to talk about this? Yugi trusts Bakura-kun, I trust them both, and Bakura promised to turn his life around."

The group still looked skeptical, but they didn't say anything more. Atemu walked back into the room to watch the hikaris about ten minutes later, after a quick talk on Akefia Bakura's behalf. Jou, Honda, and Anzu still didn't trust the ancient tomb robber, but they promised not to say anything around Ryou.

Ryou was listening attentively as Yugi told him about some of the games at Grandpa's store.

"—And then you can move your piece across the board! You use it to attack your opponents' monsters, and when their hit points hit zero you win!" Yugi explained happily. Atemu knew which game he was talking about. Grandpa had just received a new shipment of board games called 'Monster Mayhem' that strangely used pieces that resembled Duel Monsters.

Ryou clapped and both hikaris laughed. Yami felt his friends' looking over his shoulder and tried to shrug off the feeling unconsciously.

Bakura came back about thirty minutes later, looking proud of himself.

"He'll get out tomorrow," he told Atemu. Atemu was happy to notice that the tanned whitenette was smiling.

"He'll be glad," Yami smiled. Bakura looked at the hikaris.

"I guess I can't keep him away, huh?"

"Nope. I think Yugi'd be unhappy about that. Bakura-kun might not like it much either." The two 'older brothers' sat in their chairs, the other visitors long gone.

And that's a wrap! *throws party* Anyone wanna piece of cake? *hands out cake*

Joey: Should we give the rabbits cake? *looks down at bunnies climbing his legs*

Uhm, it's a little bit bad for bunnies. Give them these lettuce muffins instead! *hands bunnies muffins* Yays! They likes it!

Ryou: *feeds bunny muffin* Review please!

The plot bunnies demand it! All hail the plot bunnies!


End file.
